My first “Journal for no reason”

It seems like I’m posting a lot these days but the truth is I completed this journal some months ago and am only now getting caught up on talking about.

I exercise on an elliptical several times a week and while otherwise engaged, I watch things. Sometimes I read on my kindle but the majority of times I’m on YouTube watching instructional crafting videos. I discovered one amazing artist by the name of Shannon Green who has hundreds of chunky, art filled journals that she has produced through painting and collaging. She is someone who has inspired me greatly in trying things with paint and watercolor. I’ve been convinced that I’m useless in those areas. Now, even if I try, I don’t mind that I begin by making a mess.

It all started when the kids began bringing home school supplies they were done with for the year. I didn’t want to throw away their paints, for example. So one summer afternoon I sat the kids and myself down and began with putting watercolors on small blank notebooks. I reinforced the seam with washi tape so it wouldn’t come apart. That helped.

Once I had dried pages I could decided how I wanted to decorate my pages. For the kids, they decided to decorate with glitter glue, rubber stamps, markers, etc. For mine, I decided I wanted photos as the focal point and use a few elements around the photos.

Shannon Green makes many “journals for no reason” and that’s what I was going for. No reason = no initial value = no pressure on myself to create something beautiful. When the pressure is off, it’s easier to create something.

I’m calling this journal for no reason my “four square” journal. The notebooks are 8 inches x 8 inches, in other words perfectly square, and I’m using no more than 4 elements when decorating a page.

The photos are by photographer Elena Shumilova. She is from Russia and takes amazing pictures of children and animals in picturesque settings. I found her pictures online and printed a few for myself in low resolution. I like to look at them. They make me happy.